Farnese
is one of the main characters and a noblewoman from the Vandimion family who led the Holy See's ceremonial guard, the Holy Iron Chain Knights. She would later become a member of Guts' Traveling Party. Appearance Farnese is shown as a relatively skinny and pale young woman. Her hair is blonde and straight, originally much longer than it currently is, but following her haircut, it reaches down to her neck. She has dark indigo eyes, though Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō depicted them as brown. As a child, being from a rich family, Farnese used to always wear many beautiful and expensive clothes, except when it was time to sleep. Also she used to carry a stuffed bunny with her all the time until her father told her to get rid of it, at which point she burned it. When she got older, she kept wearing expensive clothes. While in her position as the leader of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, Farnese wore silvery armor with a white cape and a skirt, a helmet, and a dual-edged sword with a basket-hilt. She was once seen without her armor, wearing pants as well as a shirt that wrapped under her stomach. After leaving her life of priesthood behind and joining Guts on his journey, Farnese started to wear a small cap and gloves. After meeting Schierke, she received enchanted chain mail shirts made of silver as well as a silver short sword for protection against creatures from the astral plane. Needing a ship to reach Elfhelm, Farnese returned to her home in order to obtain one and had to agree to marry Roderick, so her brother Magnifico arranged one for them. She returned to wear expensive clothes, giving the enchanted chain mail shirts as well as the silver short sword to her friends. However, she got them back when Guts and the others came for her. She also received a trio of snake-like homunculi created by Schierke from thorn vines which she remote controls with a vine ring in her right hand. After returning to Guts' New Party she decided that her noble dress wasn't fit for her to run or move properly, so she took a common dress from a shop and left her noble dress as a payment. The 2016 anime shows Farnese with breasts that are larger than her manga counterparts. Also, her eyes have a light silvery tone to them. Personality Due to her upbringing and subsequent events, Farnese has a very complex but developing personality. As a child, Farnese was neglected by her parents and overwhelmed with fear. She cowered in her bed when she heard a roaring fire outside of her bedroom in the town square one night when they were burning a heretic. Afterwards, she went outside and threw a burning stick into the fire. She then felt a marvelous warmth in her groin and discovered that she was a pyrophiliac. She also developed a habit of maniacally burning things that she did not like. She burned the clothes of a girl while the girl was still wearing them and also threatened to burn Serpico. The only thing she burned that she was very attached to was a stuffed bunny that her father bought her during their last family trip together which he orders her to burn. Whenever she pleased, she would whip, bite, and otherwise abuse Serpico and even drink his blood. She does not know that he is her half-brother. As a child, she treated him as a possession, and she reminded him frequently of this status. Her lack of empathy due to her poor upbringing along with the praise she received in joining in a witch burning provoked her to hunt down and burn supposed witches and pagans at the stake. This fueled a secret sadistic pleasure that she constantly tried to deny. While pursuing Guts, whom she had been hunting for two years and believed to be the Hawk of Darkness, to the Misty Valley, she loathed the mere mention of the name "Hawk of Darkness," stating she believed it was profane and should not be mentioned lightly. She fixated on capturing him for the sake of the faith. When confronting the black swordsman, she tried to maintain and show that she was calm and strong willed in front of Guts while interrogating him, but she grew enraged and whipped him when he would not respond as she wanted. For his part, Guts freely taunts her, and she experiences sadistic pleasure after having whipped Guts. When Guts escapes he observes that Farnese also has a masochistic side: alone and stripped to her waist, she flogs herself. Kidnapped by Guts, she experiences the terrors of his night. The evil spirits terrify her, but when she tries to flee on a horse, she finds the horse possessed. The possessed horse attempts to rape her; Guts cleaves it in two with his sword stopping right at her neck. Near the end of the night, a single spirit confronts her with her secret sadistic and masochistic pleasures and fantasies. Possessed, Farnese tries to violently seduce Guts. She licks his wounded hand, then places his sword between her legs and demands that he very slowly raise it and slice her in half as she strangles him with the cord he used to bind her hands. Regarding her sexuality and fetishes, it should be remembered that Farnese commands the Holy Iron Knights because she is a virgin ''and has had no experience of relationships with others. She consistently treated Serpico and previous attendants as objects as she, herself, was treated by her family. Her first sexual feelings, which she did not understand, appear to come from joining in the burning of heretics and receiving praise for it from adults. Years later, after burning heretics, she stares into her fireplace and notes that when she stares into flames she recalls the incident from her childhood. She masturbates, just like she did when the spirit possessed her, to the recollection. When finished, she curls in tearful shame, telling herself she is not in the wrong, which recalls the earlier proclamation of Mozgus that what they do is all for their faith. She treated Serpico as a possession and initially showed no sexual or love interest in him. Her pleasure appears to come solely from sadism as well as masochism. While she enjoys whipping and otherwise abusing Serpico, she does not appear to love him specifically. There is no indication she ever felt attraction to a boy, or girl for that matter. When she finally does try to seduce Serpico, he declines her advances since he knows she is his half-sister. She does not know that he is her half-brother. She avoids an arranged marriage by setting her house on fire, then becoming the commander of the Holy Iron Knights. Throughout this period save for her brief approach to Serpico, she shows little, if any, affection to anyone other than herself. Indeed, she has contempt for her mother's constant affairs and her father's complete disinterest in her and the rest of his family. In other words, she has never had an affectionate relationship with anyone. The spirit that possesses her while she is kidnapped by Guts, details for her and forces her to confront her sexual urges and fetishes. After being freed from the spirit, she becomes mortified with what she has learned about herself and demands Serpico, who had just arrived, to kill Guts even though their mission was to capture and deliver him to the Holy See. She continually repeats "Kill him!" to herself. Farnese is unwilling and unable at this stage to accept what her possession revealed; yet, as noted, she later fantasizes about it. Far later in her development, as a part of Guts' New Party where she has risked her life for Casca, became a disciple of Schierke, and even gained some respect from Guts, she no longer abuses Serpico nor appears to engage in sadomasochistic practices. However, she currently does not show any romantic interest in Serpico or anyone else other than perhaps a crush on Guts. Any romantic thoughts or fantasies she may have have not been depicted. After meeting Mozgus, Farnese proved that despite having a sadistic side she was not cruel like Mozgus and does have some sympathy , though she tried to follow the teachings of Mozgus that said their cruel actions was because of their faith in God. She also tried to convince herself that she was not wrong. Farnese is shown to have developed fear from Guts and tried to avoid going after him with the excuse that it wasn't their responsibility anymore. After seeing what happened in Albion, what she used to know and believed in has shattered and seeing Guts fight on, even when it seemed to be hopeless, Farnese decided to leave her position and former life behind her and follow Guts to learn from him more about the world and how to live in a world without hope. After joining Guts' New Party, Farnese has shown great development in her personality. The most striking change is her progressive willingness to think about and act for the welfare of others. She willingly apologizes to Guts and begs to follow him as atonement. Regret and contrition were unknown to the child-to-commander Farnese. She becomes very frustrated, self-conscious, and hurt when she realizes she cannot actually ''do anything, such as protect herself and others during the night attacks. However it becomes apparent that Farnese can calm Casca when she becomes agitated. In this fashion, she becomes a much more sympathetic human being as well as responsible and dependable. While taking care of Casca appears her "role" in Guts' group, Farnese appears to develop a genuine concern and affection for Casca. As an example, when she and Casca were surrounded by trolls, Farnese fought to protect Casca rather than simply falling into a panic. Serpico notices this change. Having previously devoted herself militantly and intolerantly to her faith, only to have it broken, she becomes fascinated by the positive powers of magic. She asks Schierke to teach her magic. This signals another development in that she subordinates herself not just to the powerful Guts, but to a girl much younger than her. Serpico notices this change in her as well. She also appears to enjoy Ivalera's playful claims to be her teacher as well. Such is a very significant change from the spoiled violent and sadistic child and commander of the Holy Iron Knights. Farnese seems to have developed a hero worship and crush towards Guts. Farnese cannot help but notice over her time with him as commander of the Holy Iron Knights that Guts never actually harms nor takes advantage her. He even acts to save her. Her hero worship is evident whenever he thanks her or gives her his approval for something she did she would feel happy and encouraged. This was visible during the fight against the Sea God when she was asked by Schierke to do the protection spell: she hesitated at first but after been encouraged by Guts she decided to do it. Farnese's crush on Guts appears evident in a number of scenes. For example, when she was asked by her mother if she had someone she loved her thought was of Guts, and while training with Schierke in the Astral Plane she heard Roderick ask Guts if Casca was his woman. Right before Guts completed his answer Farnese unconsciously returned to her body not knowing why she did not want to know. Also it seems that her reason for learning magic comes from her crush on Guts and desire to be more helpful to him and the group, as she especially enjoyed healing Guts through magic. Despite Farnese being caring and motherly to Casca, Guts' undying love for her caused Farnese to harbor a strong jealously towards Casca. This jealously was shown when she yelled at Casca when washing her, complaining that Guts has received scars over his entire body by protecting Casca while she remains oblivious. However, different from the way she acted in the past, Farnese regretted yelling at her, and she willingly continued her duty of protecting Casca. Farnese's jealously still remained though as when a heavily bandaged Guts got out of bed when Casca was troubled, Farnese would not let Guts near her by making the excuse that Guts' presence would agitate her. Farnese is the only member of the party to dislike the Moonlight Boy, as the boy seemed to draw Guts and Casca closer together (even Serpico noticed her discomfort). When landing on Elfhelm one of the witches did confirm it was possible for Sovereign Hanafubuku to heal Casca's mind. Upon hearing this good news Guts smiled deeply to himself, but Farnese noticed his happiness and looked anxious. Despite her jealousy, Farnese willingly becomes part of Hanafubuku's dive into Casca's mind. While traveling Casca's mind, Farnese experiences the whole breadth of memories and emotions Casca has felt in her life. And expresses affection to the tiny child-like Casca she had grown to care for. Farnese alikens Casca's worship of Griffith to her own awe of Guts, she expressed disgust at the dark creatures that appeared in her mind and Farnese sees that Casca was a leader to Hawks like she was to Holy Iron Chain Knights. However Farnese also witnesses Casca evolving relationship with Guts, seeing that Casca has known a younger Guts she's never met to Farnese's dismay. Upon seeing Guts make love to Casca by the waterfall, she finally understands their relationship but admits to herself she's known all along causing her jealousy and sadness to deepen which Schierke notices. When the child-like Mini-Casca speaks and asks to see someone, Farnese guesses who that might be and swears to Casca she will get her wish. Abilities When she was the leader of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, Farnese wore armor and carried a sword with her. However, she was inexperienced in battle and was unskilled with her sword. This was evident when Guts charged at her, and all that she was able to do was point her sword at him while closing her eyes. When this happened, Serpico threw a stick at Guts' injured leg and caused him to faint. After joining Guts, Farnese proved that she didn't know how to cook or clean the clothing. She is shown to know how to use a knife to defend herself and Casca, but not by any skillful means. After studying magic under Schierke's tutelage, Farnese was shown to be able to project her astral body and perform the protection spell which made her name officially among the names of the witches. After the battle with the Sea God, Farnese was shown to be able to heal Guts using magic, just like Schierke. Equipment * Steel Rapier * Silver Dagger * Silver surcoat * Thorn Snakes Trivia *Farnese has a habit of putting her hands on her mouth when horrified. *While everyone saw the dream about the Hawk of Light coming to save them, Farnese did not. Whether this is just coincidence or something else remains to be seen. References Site Navigation Category:Humans Category:Female Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Guts' Traveling Party Category:Swordsmen Category:Nobles Category:Knights Category:Witches Category:Supernatural Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Conviction Characters Category:Falcon of the Millennium Empire Characters Category:Fantasia Characters